6 August (BBC): Hollywood movies are under-representing non-white ethnic groups in the US, a new study says.
Hispanic actors played only 4.9% of speaking parts in 2013 blockbusters, despite making up more than 16% of the population.
Black actors were cast in 14.1% of roles and 17% of films had no black speaking characters.
The University of Southern California report studied almost 4,000 characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2013.
Although 2014 saw Steve McQueen become the first black director to win an Oscar for his film 12 years A Slave, the study found that there were only 1.1% more black characters on the big screen than in 2007.
It added that if a film had a black director, more black actors were likely to be involved.
“Adding diversity to the director’s chair may influence what we see on screen,” the report said.
